About

Centralia College

Centralia College, an institution of higher learning located in Centralia, Washington, is a two-year institution and in 2012 began offering a Bachelor of Applied Science in Applied Management degree (BAS-AM) and now offers a Bachelor of Applied Science in Diesel Technology (BAS-D). Founded in 1925, Centralia is the oldest continuously operating community college in the state of Washington. As shown below, the college sits on 29 acres (120,000 m) in the middle of the town of Centralia. There is a branch education center, Centralia College East, in the town of Morton and the college offers a range of online and correspondence courses. Overall the college serves an area of 2,409 square miles (6,240 km) in Lewis County and southern Thurston County under the administrative classification of Community College District Twelve.

History

Aerial view of campus

Centralia College opened in 1925 under the name of Centralia Junior College. Developing slowly at first, the college constructed its first physical campus in 1950 with Kemp Hall. Also, in 1948 the college received its accreditation from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Growing from an entrance class of 15 students, as of 2009 the college has an enrollment of 4,803 students in 64 academic programs. The college is affiliated with the private Centralia College Foundation, founded in 1982 by community members, to supplement its public resources.

The college is also home to Michael Spafford's Twelve Labors of Hercules, a series of murals commissioned in the early 1980s for the House of Representatives' chambers. From 1982 to 1987 they were covered with curtains due to their perceived (by some) sexually suggestive nature and later were placed in storage. Following a decade of negotiations, the college acquired the murals in 2002 for display in the Corbet Theatre. Murals created by Alden Mason and originally displayed at the Capitol were moved to the college library in 1990.

Athletics

The college's mascot is the Trailblazer and the athletics program includes teams for women's volleyball, men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's fast pitch softball and women's golf. These teams play in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC).